Tile Cache

ABSTRACT

Tile cache techniques are described. In at least some embodiments, a tile cache is maintained that stores tile content for a plurality of tiles. The tile content is ordered in the tile cache to match a visual order of tiles in a graphical user interface. When tiles are moved (e.g., panned and/or scrolled) in the graphical user interface, tile content can be retrieved from the tile cache and displayed.

BACKGROUND

Today's computing device user has access to a wide variety of content. Much of this content is “rich content”, in that it consists of a combination of different types of content, including images, text, audio, video, animations, and so on. There are a number of challenges associated with enabling a user to navigate through such rich content, such as allocating device resources that are utilized during the navigation.

For example, as a user visually navigates through content, additional content is presented to the user as part of the navigation experience. Presenting the additional content to the user typically involves retrieving the additional content from some type of storage, converting the additional content into a form that can be displayed, and then displaying the additional content to the user. This process can consume significant resources and if resources are not sufficient, the quality of the navigation experience can be diminished.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Tile cache techniques are described. In at least some embodiments, a tile cache is maintained that stores tile content for a plurality of tiles. The tile content is ordered in the tile cache to match a visual order of tiles in a graphical user interface. When tiles are moved through the graphical user interface, tile content can be retrieved from the tile cache and displayed.

In implementations, a misordering event can cause tile content in the tile cache to become misordered with respect to the visual order of tiles. Thus, a reordering operation can be implemented to cause the tile content to be reordered to match the visual order of tiles.

In implementations, a determination is made whether to retrieve animation content for a tile based on a velocity of the tile in a graphical user interface. For example, if the velocity of the tile falls below a threshold velocity, animation content can be retrieved for the tile. If the velocity of the tile stays above the threshold velocity, static tile content can be displayed as part of the tile.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The use of the same reference numbers in different instances in the description and the figures may indicate similar or identical items.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an environment in an example implementation in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a system in an example implementation showing FIG. 1 in greater detail.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example tile caching scenario in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram that describes steps in a method in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram that describes steps in a method in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram that describes steps in a method in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of an environment in an example implementation in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram that describes steps in a method in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram that describes steps in a method in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example computing device that can be utilized to implement various embodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

Tile cache techniques are described. In at least some embodiments, a tile cache is maintained that stores tile content for a plurality of tiles. The tile content can include a rendered version of a complete tile visual, e.g., as the tile appears when it is displayed. The tile content is ordered in the tile cache to match a visual order of tiles in a graphical user interface. When tiles are moved through the graphical user interface (e.g., via panning and/or scrolling), tile content can be retrieved from the tile cache and displayed.

In implementations, a misordering event can cause tile content in the tile cache to become misordered with respect to the visual order of tiles. For example, when an application associated with a tile is installed or uninstalled, adding or deleting the tile can cause tile content in the cache to be misordered. Thus, a reordering operation can be implemented to cause the tile content to be reordered to match the visual order of tiles.

In implementations, a determination is made whether to retrieve animation content for a tile based on a velocity of the tile in a graphical user interface. Velocity of the tile can refer to a speed of panning and/or scrolling of the tile through the graphical user interface. For example, if the velocity of the tile stays above a threshold velocity, static tile content can be retrieved and displayed for the tile. If the velocity of the tile falls below the threshold velocity, however, animation content can be retrieved for the tile.

In the following discussion, an example environment is first described that is operable to employ tile cache techniques described herein. Next, an example system is described that is operable to employ tile cache techniques described herein. Following this, a section entitled “Example Tile Caching Scenarios” describes several tile caching scenarios in accordance with one or more embodiments. Next, a section entitled “Animation Tile Content” describes implementations in which animation content may be used for tiles. Following this, a section entitled “Tile Slot Sizing” describes example embodiments in which tile slots in a tile cache can be resized. Finally, a section entitled “Example Device” describes an example device that can be utilized to implement one more embodiments discussed herein.

Example Environment

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an environment 100 in an example implementation that is operable to employ tile cache techniques as described herein. The illustrated environment 100 includes an example of a computing device 102 that may be configured in a variety of ways. For example, the computing device 102 may be configured as a traditional computer (e.g., a desktop personal computer, laptop computer, and so on), a mobile station, an entertainment appliance, a set-top box communicatively coupled to a television, a wireless phone, a netbook, a game console, a handheld device, and so forth as further described in relation to FIGS. 2 and 10. Thus, the computing device 102 may range from full resource devices with substantial memory and processor resources (e.g., personal computers, game consoles) to a low-resource device with limited memory and/or processing resources (e.g., traditional set-top boxes, hand-held game consoles). The computing device 102 also includes software that causes the computing device 102 to perform one or more operations as described below.

Computing device 102 includes a user interface module 104 that is representative of functionality to generate and manage various types of user interfaces for the computing device 102, such as a graphical user interface 106. Displayed on the graphical user interface 106 are tiles 108. In implementations, the tiles 108 are graphical representations of various applications, processes, content, and so on, that are accessible via the computing device 102.

In embodiments, each of the tiles 108 is selectable to invoke an associated functionality. For example, a particular tile can be selected to cause an application associated with the tile to be launched. Further, another tile can be selected to navigate to content and/or a collection of content, such as images, video, audio, and so on.

While the tiles 108 are selectable to access various functionalities and/or content, the tiles themselves may include a variety of content. For example, a particular tile may include an image along with text, video, audio, animation content, and/or other type of content. Thus, individual tiles of the tiles 108 may be differentiated from others of the tiles 108 by a particular collection of content that is presented within and/or originates from the tile.

In implementations, the tiles 108 can be manipulated in various directions with respect to the graphical user interface 106 via user input to the computing device 102. For example, the tiles 108 can be panned left and right, scrolled up and down, and/or any combination thereof. In response to such manipulation, the collection of tiles presented as part of the tiles 108 can change. For example, panning the tiles 108 to the right of the graphical user interface 106 can cause some of the tiles 108 to exit the graphical user interface to the right and different tiles to pan into the graphical user interface from the left, and vice versa. Thus, the tiles 108 can represent a subset of a larger collection of tiles that are available to be presented via the graphical user interface 106.

Further illustrated as part of the computing device 102 is a tile manager module 110 that is representative of functionality to manage various aspects of the tiles 108, along with other techniques discussed herein. For example, the tile manager module 110 is configured to manage a tile cache 112, which represents a data storage component of the computing device 102 that is configured to store tile content for the tiles 108.

The computing device 102 additionally includes a primary memory 114 that is representative of memory that is accessible to various components of the computing device 102 to perform tasks. Examples of the primary memory 114 include random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), static RAM (SRAM), and so on. Included as part of the primary memory 114 is a standby list 116, which is representative of functionality to store tile content that is retrieved from the tile cache 112 and/or displayed on the graphical user interface 106. In implementations, the standby list 116 can function as a data holding area for tile data that has recently been displayed. Further aspects of the tile manager module 110, the tile cache 112, the primary memory 114, and the standby list 116 are discussed below.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example system showing the computing device 102 as being implemented in an environment where multiple devices are interconnected through a central computing device. The central computing device may be local to the multiple devices or may be located remotely from the multiple devices. In one embodiment, the central computing device is a “cloud” server farm, which comprises one or more server computers that are connected to the multiple devices through a network or the Internet or other means.

In one embodiment, this interconnection architecture enables functionality to be delivered across multiple devices to provide a common and seamless experience to the user of the multiple devices. Each of the multiple devices may have different physical requirements and capabilities, and the central computing device uses a platform to enable the delivery of an experience to the device that is both tailored to the device and yet common to all devices. In one embodiment, a “class” of target device is created and experiences are tailored to the generic class of devices. A class of device may be defined by physical features or usage or other common characteristics of the devices. For example, as previously described the computing device 102 may be configured in a variety of different ways, such as for mobile 202, computer 204, and television 206 uses. Each of these configurations has a generally corresponding screen size and thus the computing device 102 may be configured as one of these device classes in this example system 200. For instance, the computing device 102 may assume the mobile 202 class of device which includes mobile telephones, music players, game devices, and so on.

The computing device 102 may also assume a computer 204 class of device that includes personal computers, laptop computers, netbooks, and so on. The television 206 configuration includes configurations of device that involve display in a casual environment, e.g., televisions, set-top boxes, game consoles, and so on. Thus, techniques described herein may be supported by these various configurations of the computing device 102 and are not limited to the specific examples described in the following sections.

Cloud 208 is illustrated as including a platform 210 for web services 212. The platform 210 abstracts underlying functionality of hardware (e.g., servers) and software resources of the cloud 208 and thus may act as a “cloud operating system.” For example, the platform 210 may abstract resources to connect the computing device 102 with other computing devices. The platform 210 may also serve to abstract scaling of resources to provide a corresponding level of scale to encountered demand for the web services 212 that are implemented via the platform 210. A variety of other examples are also contemplated, such as load balancing of servers in a server farm, protection against malicious parties (e.g., spam, viruses, and other malware), and so on.

Thus, the cloud 208 is included as a part of the strategy that pertains to software and hardware resources that are made available to the computing device 102 via the Internet or other networks. For example, tile cache techniques discussed herein may be implemented in part on the computing device 102 as well as via a platform 210 that supports web services 212.

In implementations, input to the computing device 102 and/or the graphical user interface 106 may be detected using touchscreen functionality in the mobile configuration 202, track pad functionality of the computer 204 configuration, detected by a camera as part of support of a natural user interface (NUI) that does not involve contact with a specific input device, and so on. Further, performance of the operations to implement techniques discussed herein may be distributed throughout the system 200, such as by the computing device 102 and/or the web services 212 supported by the platform 210 of the cloud 208.

Generally, any of the functions described herein can be implemented using software, firmware, hardware (e.g., fixed logic circuitry), manual processing, or a combination of these implementations. The terms “module,” “functionality,” and “logic” as used herein generally represent software, firmware, hardware, or a combination thereof. In the case of a software implementation, the module, functionality, or logic represents program code that performs specified tasks when executed on or by a processor (e.g., CPU or CPUs). The program code can be stored in one or more computer readable memory devices. The features of the tile cache techniques described below are platform-independent, meaning that the techniques may be implemented on a variety of commercial computing platforms having a variety of processors.

Discussed below are a number of methods that may be implemented to perform techniques discussed herein. Aspects of the methods may be implemented in hardware, firmware, or software, or a combination thereof. The methods are shown as a set of blocks that specify operations performed by one or more devices and are not necessarily limited to the orders shown for performing the operations by the respective blocks. Further, an operation shown with respect to a particular method may be combined and/or interchanged with an operation of a different method in accordance with one or more implementations.

Example Tile Caching Scenarios

The following section discusses several tile caching scenarios in accordance with one or more embodiments. Aspects of the tile caching scenarios may be implemented via components and/or functionalities of the example environment 100, system 200, and/or device 1000.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example tile caching scenario 300, in accordance with one or more embodiments. Included as part of the tile caching scenario 300 is a detailed view of the tile cache 112. The tile cache 112 includes tile slots 302, which are representative of locations in the tile cache 112 that store tile content for the tiles 108 as well as other tiles. Thus, in implementations each of the tiles 108 has a corresponding tile slot in the tile slots 302 that can be accessed to retrieve content for the tile.

To enable tile content to be retrieved more efficiently, the tile slots 302 are arranged in the tile cache 112 in an order that corresponds to a visual order of corresponding tiles in the graphical user interface 106. Thus, as a user navigates through tiles in the graphical user interface 106, tile content for tiles that are to be displayed can be retrieved in a contiguous group. In implementations this can conserve resources by enabling tile content for a group of tiles to be retrieved via a single storage access operation, as opposed to accessing multiple non-contiguous locations throughout the cache to retrieve tile content.

The tile cache 112 further includes a cache header 304, which includes information about the tile cache 112. For example, the cache header 304 includes an index with tile slot entries that associate each of the tiles 108 with a particular one of the tile slots 302, as well as a location in the tile cache 112 (e.g., an address) for each of the tile slots 302. The cache header 304 can also include other information about the tile slots 304, such as an association between particular applications and particular tile slots, a disk size for individual tile slots, and so on.

As mentioned above, the tiles 108 can be manipulated (e.g., panned and/or scrolled) in various directions with respect to the graphical user interface 106 to navigate among a larger collection of tiles. Further to such embodiments, a user manipulation of the tiles 108 towards the right edge of the graphical user interface 106 is illustrated. As the manipulation proceeds to the right, a group of outgoing tiles 306 leaves the graphical user interface 106 at the right edge and a group of incoming tiles 308 enters the graphical user interface from the left edge. Thus, the user manipulation causes tiles to move into and out of the graphical user interface 106 such that the collection of tiles displayed as part of the tiles 108 changes.

Further to the tile cache scenario 300, when it is detected that the tiles 108 are being manipulated such that the incoming tiles 308 will be displayed, tile content for the incoming tiles 308 is retrieved from the tile cache 112. For example, the cache header 304 is queried (e.g., by the tile manager module 110) to determine which of the cache slots 302 correspond to the incoming tiles 308. Tile content is then retrieved from the corresponding tile slots and made available to be displayed in the graphical user interface 106. In implementations, the tile content can be retrieved from the tile slots and placed in the primary memory 114. The user interface module 104 can then retrieve the tile content from the primary memory 114 and display the tile content in the graphical user interface 106 as part of the incoming tiles 308.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram that describes steps in a method in accordance with one or more embodiments. Step 400 initially receives tile content for a tile. For example, the tile content can be received as part of an application installation, as part of a download, responsive to a user selection of tile content, and so on. Step 402 decodes and visually renders the tile content. For instance, the tile content can be in an encoded form, such as a compressed image, a compressed video, and so on. Thus, encoded tile content can be decoded and visually rendered by a computing device.

In implementations, the encoded tile content may originate from an untrusted source, e.g., a source that is unknown to the computing device 102. Thus, the encoded tile content can be decoded and/or rendered by a process that is external to the user interface module 104 and tile manager module 110 to prevent sensitive functionalities of the computing device 102 from potentially being exposed to unsafe content.

Step 404 builds a cache file that includes a tile slot for each of the tiles and a cache header that references each of the tile slots. For example, the tile slots are arranged in the tile cache in an order that corresponds to a visual order of the tiles as displayed in a graphical user interface. The cache header can include an entry for each tile slot, and each entry can include a pointer that associates a respective tile with the tile slot to enable the tile content to be retrieved for the tile. Step 406 stores visually rendered versions of tile content for each tile in a respective tile slot. For example, the tile manager module 110 can cause a rendered version of an entire tile visual (e.g., as the tile appears when displayed) to be stored in a tile slot of the tile cache 112. The rendered version of the tile visual can include a bitmap or other version of the tile that can be retrieved from a tile slot and displayed without further decoding, rendering, or formatting. Step 408 retrieves for display visually rendered versions of incoming tiles from respective tile slots.

Thus, implementations enable a tile visual for a tile to be decoded and rendered once, e.g., as discussed above with reference to steps 400 and 402. The tile visual is then stored in the tile cache. For subsequent operations that display the tile visual (e.g., in response to tile movement in a user interface), the tile visual is retrieved from the tile cache and displayed without requiring additional decoding or processing of the tile visual.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram that describes steps in a method in accordance with one or more embodiments. Step 500 detects tile movement. For example, the tile manager module 110 can detect that the tiles 108 are panning and/or scrolling in the graphical user interface 106, e.g., in response to user manipulation of the tiles. Step 502 indicates that primary memory being used for tile content for outgoing tiles is available for other tasks. For example, the tile manager module 110 can communicate to an operating system of the computing device 102 that tile content for the outgoing tiles 306 can be pushed onto the standby list 116. This can enable memory resources of the computing device 102 to be conserved by quickly repurposing primary memory that is not being used by an active task.

Step 504 ascertains whether tile content for incoming tiles is available in primary memory. For example, some or all of the tile content may have been previously retrieved from the tile cache 112 and placed in the standby list 116. If the tile content is not available in memory (“No”), step 506 retrieves the tile content for the incoming tiles from a cache to the primary memory. For instance, the tile manager module 110 can retrieve the tile content from the tile cache 112 and place the tile content in the primary memory 114. In implementations, prior to retrieving the tile content from the tile cache, the tile manager module 110 can pass placeholder content to the user interface module 104. The placeholder content can be displayed in one or more of the incoming tiles until the tile content for the tiles is retrieved from the tile cache and placed in primary memory for access by the user interface module 104.

Step 508 causes the tile content to be presented as part of the incoming tiles. In implementations, the tile manager module 110 can inform the user interface module 104 that the tile content is ready to be retrieved from the primary memory 114 and displayed. Returning to step 504, if the tile content is available in memory (“Yes”), the method proceeds to step 508 which causes the tile content to be presented as part of the incoming tiles. In implementations, the tile manager module 110 can determine that the tile content is available in the standby list 116 (e.g., the tile content was recently displayed and was pushed onto the standby list), and can inform the user interface module 104 that the tile content is ready to be retrieved from the standby list and displayed.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram that describes steps in a method in accordance with one or more embodiments. In implementations, the method is a detailed implementation of step 506 of FIG. 5, discussed above. Step 600 determines a cache location for tile slots. For example, the tile manager module 110 can inspect the cache header 304 to determine where in the tile cache 112 tile slots for the incoming tiles 308 is located. Step 602 ascertains whether the tile slot order matches the visual order of the tiles. For example, the tile manager module 110 can ascertain whether the tile slots that store the tile content for the tiles 108 are arranged to correspond to a visual order of the tiles 108 in the graphical user interface 106.

If the tile slot order corresponds to the visual order of the tiles (“Yes”), step 604 retrieves the tile content from the cache according to the visual order. For example, the tile slots can be accessed serially in an order that corresponds to the visual order of the tiles in a graphical user interface. The retrieved tile content can be stored in memory that is accessible by the user interface module 104, e.g., in the primary memory 114.

In implementations, individual storage access operations can retrieve tile content from the tile cache 112 in large sections of content (e.g., approximately 1 megabyte) to reduce the number of storage access operations used to retrieve the tile content. Thus, maintaining tile content in ordered contiguous sections enables the large storage access operations to efficiently retrieve tile content to reduce resource usage.

Returning the step 602, if the tile slot order does not correspond to the visual order of the tiles (“No”), step 606 retrieves the tile content from the misordered tile slots. In implementations, tile slots can be misordered when a misordering event causes an order of tile slots to not correspond to a visual order of associated tiles. Examples of a misordering event include an installation or uninstallation of an application and its associated tile, a visual rearrangement of tiles by a user, and so on. Since the misordering can cause the tile slots to be located multiple non-contiguous sections of the tile cache 112, multiple storage access operations may be implemented to access the non-contiguous sections and retrieve the tile content.

Step 608 causes the tile slots to be reordered when the system is idle. For example, the tile manager module 110 can ascertain that the order of tile slots in the tile cache 112 does not correspond to a visual order of tiles in the graphical user interface 106. In response, the tile manager module can schedule a cache reorder operation to be implemented when the system (e.g., the computing device 102) is idle. When the tile manager module 110 receives an indication that the system is idle, the tile manager module can rearrange the tile slots in the tile cache 112 such that the order to tile slots corresponds to a visual order of tiles in the graphical user interface 106. In implementations, reordering the tile slots can cause the tile slots to be located in contiguous portions of the tile cache such that the tile slots can be accessed with fewer storage access operations than would be used for non-contiguous portions.

As an example of a cache reordering scenario, consider an example environment 700 in accordance with one or more embodiments. Illustrated in the upper portion of the environment 700 is the graphical user interface 106 which displays a group of tiles 702, 704, 706, 708, 710, 712, and 714. Also illustrated in the upper portion is the tile cache 112 which includes tile slots for various tiles, including the tiles 702, 704, 706, 708, 710, 712, and 714. As indicated in the upper portion, the tile slots that correspond to tiles 702, 704, 706, 708, 710, 712, and 714 are contiguous to one another in the tile cache 112. Thus, in implementations the tile slots that correspond to tiles 702, 704, 706, 708, 710, 712, and 714 can be accessed to retrieve tile content from the tile slots via a single storage access operation.

Proceeding from the upper portion to the center of environment 100, the tile 714 has been removed and a tile 716 has been added to the graphical user interface 106. A variety of different events can cause the tile 714 to be removed and/or the tile 716 to be added. For example, an application associated with the tile 714 can be uninstalled, which causes the tile 714 to be removed and the displayed tiles to be rearranged such that the tile 716 is displayed. As a further example, a user can cause the tiles to be rearranged by specifying a different tile arrangement order. Still further, an application associated with the tile 716 can be installed, which causes the tile 714 to be displaced by the tile 716 in the graphical user interface 106.

As further indicated in the center portion of the environment 100, the tile slots that correspond to the tiles displayed in the graphical user interface 106 are not contiguous to one another in the tile cache 112, e.g., the tile slots for tiles 702, 704, 706, 708, 710, 712, and 716. In implementations, when such misordering occurs between visual tiles and tile slots, the tile header 304 can be edited to reflect the mapping between displayed tiles and corresponding tile slots. Thus, after a tile misorder event, the correct tile content can still be retrieved from the tile cache 112 for the displayed tiles. Since the corresponding tile slots are not contiguous, however, multiple storage access operations may be implemented to retrieve tile content for the tiles. For example, a first storage access operation can access tile slots 702, 704, 706, 708, 710, and 712, and a second storage access operation can access slot 716.

Since a cache reordering process can consume significant processing and/or memory resources, however, the cache reordering process may not be immediately initiated. As mentioned above, the tile manager module 112 may wait until an indication that the computing device 102 is idle (e.g., a user is not interacting with the device) to initiate the cache reordering process. This can avoid burdening device resources to an extent that may cause deterioration of a user experience, such as undesirable interruptions in tile panning and/or scrolling, slowing of tile content retrieval, and so on. Additionally, multiple misordering events can occur during a particular user interaction with a device. Thus, delaying a reordering process until the device is idle can account for the multiple misordering events with a single reorder operation.

Continuing on to the bottom portion of the environment 700, the tile slots in the tile cache 112 have been reordered (e.g., by the tile manager module 110 during device idle time) to reflect the visual order of tiles in the graphical user interface 106. For example, the tile slots have been reordered such that the tile slot for tile 716 is contiguous with the tile slots 702, 704, 706, 708, 710, and 712. Thus, in implementations the tile content for the tiles displayed in the bottom portion can be retrieved with a single storage access operation to the tile cache 112.

Animation Tile Content

Among the various types of tile content that can be used to populate a tile is animation content. For example, when a tile is manipulated into view, the tile can exhibit animated content. Instances of animation content include fluctuating tile size (e.g., a tile can appear to “pop out” from a user interface), content fly-in and/or fly-out from a tile, image and/or text movement within a tile, and so on.

While enabling tiles to display animated content can provide for a more diverse user experience, presenting such animated content can cause increased resource usage as compared to static tile content. Thus, techniques are described for on-demand retrieval of tile animation content. Such techniques can conserve device resources by presenting a static version of a tile during movement and retrieving animation content for the tile when tile movement is paused or stopped with the tile in view.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram that describes steps in a method in accordance with one or more embodiments. Step 800 detects that a tile is moving into view. For example, the tile manager module 110 can detect that a tile is panning and/or scrolling into view in the graphical user interface 106. Step 802 retrieves static tile content for the tile. Example ways of retrieving tile content are discussed above.

Step 804 ascertains whether a tile velocity has fallen below a threshold velocity. A tile velocity can refer to how quickly tiles are moving through a graphical user interface, such as measured with reference to tile movement from one edge of the graphical user interface to another edge. In implementations, a user can pan quickly through multiple tiles, and thus a particular tile can move into and out of a user interface without falling below the threshold velocity. If the user pauses or stops panning while the tile is in view, however, the tile velocity can fall below the threshold velocity.

If the tile velocity does not fall below the threshold velocity (“No”), step 806 presents the static tile content in the tile. If the tile velocity does fall below the threshold velocity (“Yes”), step 808 retrieves animation content for the tile. In implementations, a tile slot for the tile in the tile cache 112 can store the static tile content as well as the animation content. Alternatively or additionally, the animation content can be stored elsewhere on the computing device 102 and/or at a resource that is remote from the computing device 102. Step 810 presents the animation content in the tile.

Alternatively or in addition to the method discussed above, a timer can be employed to determine when animation content for a tile is to be retrieved. For example, when a tile stops moving and/or falls below the threshold velocity discussed above while it is displayed, the timer can be triggered. If the timer elapses before the tile begins moving again, animation content can be retrieved for the tile.

Tile Slot Sizing

Since different tiles can be associated with different types and combinations of tile content, the data storage size of tile slots in the tile cache 112 can vary between different tile slots. For example, a tile slot for a tile that only includes text can be smaller (e.g., use less data storage) than a tile slot for a different tile that includes both text and images. Additionally, the collection of content associated with a tile can be dynamic. For example, new tile content can be added to an established collection of tile content. Thus, the tile cache 112 is dynamic in that a tile slot can be resized to accommodate new and/or edited tile content.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram that describes steps in a method in accordance with one or more embodiments. Step 900 detects that new content for a tile is received that exceeds available storage in an existing tile slot for the tile. In implementations, new content can include replacement tile content, content that is additional to existing tile content, and/or a new version of existing tile content.

Step 902 stores the new content in a new tile slot in available cache storage. In implementations, the new tile slot can be created at a different location in the tile cache than the existing tile slot. For example, the new tile slot can be created at the end of the tile cache 112, e.g., after the last tile slot in the tile cache. In addition to the new content, relevant existing content from the existing tile slot can be propagated to the new tile slot. Thus, relevant existing content can include existing tile content that hasn't been replaced by the new content. Step 904 maps the tile to the new tile slot. For example, a mapping between the visual ordering of the tile and the new tile slot can be noted in the cache header 304 such that the new tile slot can be accessed to retrieve tile content for the tile.

Step 906 reorders the cache to incorporate the new tile slot such that tile slot order matches visual order of tiles. For example, an idle time reorder operation can be scheduled and performed, as discussed in more detail above.

Having described tile slot resizing techniques, consider now an example device that can be utilized to implement one more embodiments described above.

Example Device

FIG. 10 illustrates various components of an example device 1000 that can be implemented as any type of portable and/or computer device as described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 to implement embodiments of the tile cache techniques described herein. Device 1000 includes communication devices 1002 that enable wired and/or wireless communication of device data 1004 (e.g., received data, data that is being received, data scheduled for broadcast, data packets of the data, etc.). The device data 1004 or other device content can include configuration settings of the device, media content stored on the device, and/or information associated with a user of the device. Media content stored on device 1000 can include any type of audio, video, and/or image data. Device 1000 includes one or more data inputs 1006 via which any type of data, media content, and/or inputs can be received, such as user-selectable inputs, messages, music, television media content, recorded video content, and any other type of audio, video, and/or image data received from any content and/or data source.

Device 1000 also includes communication interfaces 1008 that can be implemented as any one or more of a serial and/or parallel interface, a wireless interface, any type of network interface, a modem, and as any other type of communication interface. The communication interfaces 1008 provide a connection and/or communication links between device 1000 and a communication network by which other electronic, computing, and communication devices communicate data with device 1000.

Device 1000 includes one or more processors 1010 (e.g., any of microprocessors, controllers, and the like) which process various computer-executable or readable instructions to control the operation of device 1000 and to implement the gesture embodiments described above. Alternatively or in addition, device 1000 can be implemented with any one or combination of hardware, firmware, or fixed logic circuitry that is implemented in connection with processing and control circuits which are generally identified at 1012. Although not shown, device 1000 can include a system bus or data transfer system that couples the various components within the device. A system bus can include any one or combination of different bus structures, such as a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, a universal serial bus, and/or a processor or local bus that utilizes any of a variety of bus architectures.

Device 1000 also includes computer-readable media 1014, such as one or more memory components, examples of which include random access memory (RAM), non-volatile memory (e.g., any one or more of a read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, EPROM, EEPROM, etc.), and a disk storage device. A disk storage device may be implemented as any type of magnetic or optical storage device, such as a hard disk drive, a recordable and/or rewriteable compact disc (CD), any type of a digital versatile disc (DVD), and the like. Device 1000 can also include a mass storage media device 1016.

Computer-readable media 1014 provides data storage mechanisms to store the device data 1004, as well as various device applications 1018 and any other types of information and/or data related to operational aspects of device 1000. For example, an operating system 1020 can be maintained as a computer application with the computer-readable media 1014 and executed on processors 1010. The device applications 1018 can include a device manager (e.g., a control application, software application, signal processing and control module, code that is native to a particular device, a hardware abstraction layer for a particular device, etc.), as well as other applications that can include, web browsers, image processing applications, communication applications such as instant messaging applications, word processing applications and a variety of other different applications. The device applications 1018 also include any system components or modules to implement embodiments of the tile cache techniques described herein.

In this example, the device applications 1018 include an interface application 1022 and a gesture-capture driver 1024 that are shown as software modules and/or computer applications. The gesture-capture driver 1024 is representative of software that is used to provide an interface with a device configured to capture a gesture, such as a touchscreen, track pad, camera, and so on. Alternatively or in addition, the interface application 1022 and the gesture-capture driver 1024 can be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.

Device 1000 also includes an audio and/or video input-output system 1026 that provides audio data to an audio system 1028 and/or provides video data to a display system 1030. The audio system 1028 and/or the display system 1030 can include any devices that process, display, and/or otherwise render audio, video, and image data. Video signals and audio signals can be communicated from device 1000 to an audio device and/or to a display device via an RF (radio frequency) link, S-video link, composite video link, component video link, DVI (digital video interface), analog audio connection, or other similar communication link. In an embodiment, the audio system 1028 and/or the display system 1030 are implemented as external components to device 1000. Alternatively, the audio system 1028 and/or the display system 1030 are implemented as integrated components of example device 1000.

CONCLUSION

Tile cache techniques are described. In at least some embodiments, a tile cache is maintained that stores tile content for a plurality of tiles. The tile content is ordered in the tile cache to match a visual order of tiles in a graphical user interface. When tiles are moved through the graphical user interface, tile content can be retrieved from the tile cache and displayed.

In implementations, a misordering event can cause tile content in the tile cache to become misordered with respect to the visual order of tiles. Thus, a reordering operation can be implemented to cause the tile content to be reordered to match the visual order of tiles.

In implementations, a determination is made whether to retrieve animation content for a tile based on a velocity of the tile in a graphical user interface. For example, if the velocity of the tile falls below a threshold velocity, animation content can be retrieved for the tile. If the velocity of the tile stays above the threshold velocity, static tile content can be displayed as part of the tile.

Although the embodiments have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the embodiments defined in the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claimed embodiments. 

1. A method comprising: building a tile cache that includes tile slots for a plurality of tiles; storing visually rendered versions of individual tiles of the plurality of tiles in respective tile slots such that an order of tile slots in the tile cache corresponds to a visual order of the tiles in a graphical user interface; and responsive to detecting tile movement, retrieving for display visually rendered versions of one or more incoming tiles from respective tile slots in the tile cache.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of the visually rendered versions comprise a bitmap image that represents a complete tile visual for at least one of the tiles.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said building further comprises generating a cache header for the tile cache that includes pointers that associate individual tiles with respective tile slots.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said retrieving comprises: ascertaining that a visually rendered version of at least one of the incoming tiles is available in primary memory; and notifying an entity that generates the graphical user interface that the visually rendered version of the at least one of the incoming tiles is available to be retrieved from the primary memory.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said retrieving comprises inspecting a cache header for the tile cache to determine a location in the tile cache for the respective tile slots.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein said tile cache is stored in computer-readable storage, and where said retrieving comprises retrieving the rendered versions via a single access operation to the computer-readable storage.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: saving the visually rendered versions of the one or more incoming tiles to primary memory; and notifying an entity that generates the graphical user interface that the visually rendered version of the one or more incoming tiles is available to be retrieved from the primary memory.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to said retrieving, notifying one or more functionalities of a computing device that primary memory associated with one or more outgoing tiles of the graphical user interface is available for other tasks.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: responsive to said retrieving, ascertaining that the tile slots in the tile cache are misordered with respect to a visual order of associated tiles; and reordering the tile cache to cause an order of the tile slots in the tile cache to correspond to a visual order of the associated tiles in the graphical user interface.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein said reordering comprises scheduling a tile cache reorder operation to be performed when a computing device on which the graphical user interface is displayed is idle.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising: ascertaining for at least one of the incoming tiles that the tile movement has fallen below a threshold velocity; and responsive to said ascertaining, retrieving animation content for the at least one of the incoming tiles.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving new content for a tile of the plurality of tiles; storing the new content in a new tile slot for the tile; and reordering the tile cache to incorporate the new tile slot such that a tile slot order matches a visual order of the tiles in the graphical user interface.
 13. One or more computer readable storage media embodying computer readable instructions which, when executed by a computing device, implement a method comprising: determining a location in a tile cache for tile slots that include content for incoming tiles of a graphical user interface; ascertaining that an order of the tile slots in the tile cache does not correspond to a visual order of the incoming tiles in the graphical user interface; and causing the tile slots to be reordered in the tile cache to correspond to the visual order of the incoming tiles.
 14. The one or more computer readable storage media of claim 13, wherein said order of the tile slots does not correspond to a visual order of the incoming tiles due to a tile slot resizing for one of the incoming tiles that causes new tile content to be stored in a new tile slot for the one of the incoming tiles.
 15. The one or more computer readable storage media of claim 13, wherein said ascertaining comprises determining that the tile slots are stored in non-contiguous portions of the tile cache, and wherein said causing comprises causing the tile slots to be stored in contiguous portions of the tile cache.
 16. The one or more computer readable storage media of claim 13, wherein said causing comprises scheduling a tile cache reorder operation to be performed when the computing device is idle.
 17. A method comprising: detecting that a tile is moving into view in a graphical user interface; retrieving static tile content for the tile from a tile cache; and determining whether to retrieve animation content for the tile based on whether movement of the tile in the graphical user interface falls below a threshold velocity.
 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising retrieving the animation content for the tile responsive to a determination that the movement of the tile has fallen below the threshold velocity.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the animation content is retrieved from the tile cache.
 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the movement of the tile has fallen below the threshold velocity in response to a user pausing or stopping manipulation of the tile while the tile is displayed in the graphical user interface. 